Page 92 of This Prince Is Not Charming

Liadan walked out from behind a statue, carrying a tray with a kettle and teacups on it, steam curling into the air and the scent of cinnamon washing over the space.

“What is going on here?” I asked.

“None of us know,” another voice said.

I whirled around to face Clio, the flames on her head dancing while a brush was scrubbing her feet. There was a steaming bucket in front of her chair that she put her feet back into as she settled back.

“This is where you have been all this time?” I asked.

“Isn’t it glorious?” Lila ate another grape.

It was the first time since the trials had begun that she wasn’t sobbing.

Liadan stopped next to me, leaning over to whisper, “All it took was some pampering and self-care to make her completely forget about her betrothed.”

Whatever I had been expecting, it wasn’t this. I stepped forward, the warmth of the hearth filling me. “But where are we?”

Siobhan flipped a page of her book, not even bothering to look up. “Somewhere in the castle if I had to guess.”

“I’m never leaving,” Lila said, sighing as she ate another grape.

“What about Grayson?” I asked her.

Liadan shot me an I told you so look. “Someone’s had a revelation in the one day she’s been here.”

Lila sat up, frowning. “I wait on Grayson hand and foot. I’ve always loved him. Or I thought I did. But now I’ve realized no one takes care of me. No one shoulders any of my burdens. I mean, Grayson would never feed me grapes or massage my feet or make me tea.”

“That sounds like quite the realization,” I said as Liadan bustled around the space, serving everyone tea.

“You know what it’s like.” Lila had already lain back down, opening her mouth, the bunch of grapes dipping again. “Taking care of your father and all.”

“I suppose,” I said, frowning as I took it all in. “Where is all this food and drink coming from?” I looked around, not seeing a kitchen or a water barrel.

“It just appears when we need it,” Liadan said as Clio took a teacup from the tray.

Lila sighed. “It’s the most glorious place I’ve ever been.”

“So how do we get out?”

Everyone stiffened, my words sucking the tranquility from the room.

“What?” I tugged one of my curls, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

“Are you not seeing what we’re seeing?” Liadan brought the tray to me, one last cup on it that I grabbed, taking a sip of the delicious cinnamon and apple flavor. “This place does everything for us. It gives us whatever we want. We don’t want to leave.”

“But we can’t just stay here forever.” I thought of Cillian, of my father. “This isn’t real.”

“Really?” Clio lifted her feet from the bucket as the brush floated over and started scrubbing them again. “This feels pretty feckin’ real to me.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, wandering around what looked like a cavern. My hand trailed over the stone wall, rough and jagged, and my gaze trailed up to the stone ceiling. A cave, perhaps? No, we had to be underground or something.

I wandered past Lila.

“Where are you going?” Clio called.

“Exploring,” I said, “since it seems no one else has done that yet.”

“Just relax for once,” Lila said. “I’m sure this will all end when the trials end.”